Hamas has ruled out ceasefire deal unless Israel "lifts the siege" on Gaza, the organisation's political chief has told The Telegraph.

In his first interview since the recent conflict in Gaza, Khaled Meshaal has said his organisation will not accept a simple cessation of fire by both sides, and that the deal must include long term commitments to improve the "rights of the Palestinian people".

With mediators gathered in Cairo in an effort find a solution to conflict that has already seen over two hundred of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes, Mr Meshaal, for the first time, laid out the demands of his organisation.

He said that Israel must "stop the aggression" of air strikes against targets in Gaza, release the dozens of Palestinians detained in response to last month's kidnapping of three Israeli students in the West Bank, and "end the siege on Gaza permanently".

"These are our clear demands," said Mr Meshaal. "We won't accept an agreement that prolongs the suffering of our people anymore. In Gaza, for the past seven years of siege, its 1.8 million people have been living in a prison."

The demands go much further than a return to the truce brokered in Cairo in 2012, to put an end to eight days of fighting in the Gaza strip.

That truce included a pledge to open a border crossing, intending to ease the blockade of the coastal enclave.

Yesterday, Mr Meshaal said that an easing of the restrictions was no longer acceptable and that Hamas would stop at nothing short of a "full and permanent" lifting of the blockade that, as well as regulating the traffic of people and goods at the border crossing, forbids trade from Gaza's port.

Since General Abdul Fatah Sisi, who considers Hamas a terrorist organisation, became president of Egypt earlier this year, Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt has also remained mostly closed.

Mr Sisi also blocked tunnels running between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which had become a vital supply line, both of goods for civilians which are banned under the blockade and weapons for the enclave's armed groups.

Mr Meshaal refused to expand on the details of the lifting of the siege, saying that that was being discussed by mediators privately.

Now in it's tenth day, the fighting in Gaza, has seen 237 Palestinians killed, including many children. Israel has suffered one fatality.

Mr Meshaal remained defiant in Hamas's decision to continue firing rockets into Israel.

When asked whether firing the rockets which are largely ineffective in the face of Israel's protective Iron Dome shield was worthwhile in the face of so many Palestinian deaths, Mr Meshaal said: "If the rockets are not effective, why is the international community pushing for a ceasefire?"

He explained that the calculation is "not about the impact of each rocket" but the political effect they have in Israel and that they are a symbol of the Palestinian's will to resist "occupation".

The leader of Hamas said that the Palestinian issue could no longer just "be placed on the table for discussion" and that, this time, it had to be resolved.

He insinuated that, with the latest round of peace talks, led by the US Secretary of State John Kerry having failed, a return to violent "resistance" had become necessary.

"It's normal that you see those cycles of violence, this has been going on for tens of years and it will continue until we reach an end to this occupation," said Mr Meshaal.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians had reached boiling point just before the new Gaza conflict, over the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli students in the West Bank last month.

Israel named Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Aisha, two members of Hamas from the West Bank city of Hebron as the perpetrators of the killings.

Mr Meshaal told The Telegraph that Israel had "no evidence" on which to base the accusation, other than the two operatives had "gone underground" around the same time that the students were captured and killed.

He said his organisation "had no information" about how the incident came about, and therefore could neither confirm or deny responsibility.

The Hamas leader refused to condemn the perpetrators of the attacks, saying that there was "no self respecting Palestinian who would condemn the killing of a settler and those people were settlers".

"It's the Palestinian's right to resist against Israeli, be it soldier or settler as long as he lives on occupied land," said Mr Meshaal.

Israel launched a series of night raids and sweeping arrests in the West Bank, arresting some of the detainees that were released after the exchange deal struck over the release of Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit.

In retaliation, Mr Meshaal said: All the Palestinian factions got together, with Hamas at the forefront, to defend its people and retaliate against Israel's aggression."

Truce agreements to stop the conflict have so far failed.

Mr Meshaal said his organisation was not consulted about an Egyptian brokered ceasefire agreement earlier this week, for which Israel held its fire for six hours.

"We heard about the ceasefire deal through the media," Mr Meshaal said. "We were not consulted. Hamas is the main player in retaliating against Israeli aggression against Gaza. So how would an initiative succeed whilst disregarding the main players?"

Mr Meshaal said that, despite the military balance being tipped strong in Israel's favour, Palestinians would this time be "victorious" in achieving their demands.

"Every oppressed person fights and tries to gain independence with very limited resources; that's how they fought in South Africa, and in the French Revolution. The Palestinians know Israel is stronger than them, but the Palestinians are also determined to liberate their land."